Report: Free agent OT Donald Penn to meet with Redskins
The Washington Redskins are thin at the offensive tackle position. They’re meeting with Donald Penn to potentially add depth on the left side of the line.
Trent Williams is holding out from the Washington Redskins and it could have a massive impact on the team. Geron Christian wasn’t on the field for the first day of training camp as he continues to recover from knee injury that cost him most of his rookie season.
With those two players out, the Redskins were forced to use Ereck Flowers as their first-team left tackle in their first training camp practice on Thursday.
Safe to say, they are thin at the position. And it appears that they are realizing that they must do something about the depth.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Redskins are going to meet with Donald Penn. The free-agent offensive tackle most recently played for the Oakland Raiders.
Sources: Free agent LT Donald Penn is heading to Richmond to meet with the #Redskins about a possible signing. They have a big need with Trent Williams’ holdout and up-in-the-air status, and the former Raiders starter may fill it.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 26, 2019
Penn, 36, is a three-time Pro Bowler who put together back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons in 2016 and 2017 with the Raiders before missing most of last year with an injury.
Adding Penn would certainly be a sensible move. As mentioned, the Redskins are thin at the tackle position. Penn comes with a boatload of experience, logging 178 appearances (174 starts) during his 12-year NFL career. And he has mostly played at left tackle, so that experience would make him an intriguing backup.
Penn would be an upgrade over Flowers for sure and he would buy the team some extra time if they don’t think Christian is ready for a big role. Penn could either be the starter at left tackle (if Williams’ holdout continues) or the top swing tackle (if Williams returns). Either way, he would be an upgrade, as the team wouldn’t have to use Flowers on the edge, and could give him a shot at guard which was their initial plan.
However, even if the team signs Penn, they shouldn’t view him as a replacement for Williams. While Penn can still function as a solid starter, he is five years older than Williams and is coming off a season-ending groin injury. He also struggled last season and is likely to be on the decline soon. Williams is still a superior player and while Penn could be good depth, he shouldn’t be viewed as an outright replacement.
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If Penn is signed and the team cuts off talks with Williams, that would be a disaster. But if they add Penn as protection and work things out with Williams, that would be a big win. Penn would add another veteran voice to the offensive line room and could give them experience. And that’s something that they lacked last season amid all the injuries to the offensive line.